Veterinarians salary

SOC 29-1131 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$130,100

per year, nationally

Middle half

$101,460–$166,120

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

83,900

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+9.6%

3,000 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$73,920$215,700

10th: $73,920
25th: $101,460
Median: $130,100
75th: $166,120
90th: $215,700

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Doctoral or professional degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where veterinarians earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$163,920	110.7	9,170	0.93×
2	Maryland	$163,170	105.0	1,430	0.96×
3	Washington	$160,510	107.0	2,390	1.25×
4	New Jersey	$160,140	108.8	1,910	0.82×
5	Arizona	$152,020	100.7	2,080	1.19×
6	Massachusetts	$140,260	105.8	1,920	0.98×
7	District of Columbia	$134,530	109.9	190	0.49×
8	Illinois	$133,580	100.0	2,330	0.71×
9	Pennsylvania	$133,520	97.6	3,490	1.07×
10	Minnesota	$133,110	98.6	2,140	1.34×
11	New York	$131,830	107.9	3,390	0.65×
12	Vermont	$131,820	98.0	280	1.74×
13	Florida	$131,660	103.4	5,360	1.00×
14	Texas	$131,330	97.1	6,270	0.83×
15	Colorado	$130,840	103.1	2,340	1.51×
16	Maine	$130,600	97.0	600	1.72×
17	Hawaii	$130,120	110.0	370	1.10×
18	New Mexico	$129,390	92.2	460	0.99×
19	North Carolina	$129,240	94.3	2,940	1.10×
20	West Virginia	$128,990	89.5	390	1.03×
21	Oregon	$128,880	103.4	1,660	1.57×
22	New Hampshire	$128,190	104.2	650	1.75×
23	Virginia	$126,730	101.1	2,700	1.22×
24	Georgia	$126,590	96.3	2,670	1.01×
25	Rhode Island	$126,570	102.3	430	1.60×
26	Connecticut	$126,190	103.6	950	1.04×
27	Nevada	$125,550	100.0	680	0.82×
28	Michigan	$125,390	96.2	2,030	0.86×
29	Ohio	$125,060	92.8	3,430	1.15×
30	Iowa	$124,610	87.8	1,000	1.19×
31	Indiana	$124,530	93.3	1,500	0.87×
32	Louisiana	$124,370	88.2	950	0.91×
33	Tennessee	$124,350	91.9	1,730	0.98×
34	Utah	$123,990	98.9	640	0.69×
35	South Carolina	$122,130	93.7	1,380	1.11×
36	Idaho	$116,170	95.5	540	1.18×
37	Missouri	$114,660	90.8	1,920	1.21×
38	Wisconsin	$108,780	94.1	1,830	1.15×
39	Arkansas	$107,710	86.9	540	0.77×
40	Kansas	$107,080	90.1	1,000	1.29×
41	Alabama	$105,630	88.8	1,020	0.89×
42	Mississippi	$105,370	87.0	480	0.76×
43	Kentucky	$104,100	90.2	1,190	1.10×
44	Nebraska	$103,500	90.1	780	1.41×
45	North Dakota	$102,180	89.0	270	1.17×
46	Montana	$99,390	94.6	510	1.84×
47	Oklahoma	$98,090	87.8	1,150	1.25×
48	Wyoming	$97,240	92.7	140	0.91×
49	South Dakota	$88,650	88.6	280	1.13×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where veterinarians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for veterinarians

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$208,080	115.6	1,350	1.05×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$192,160	110.4	350	0.57×
3	Napa, CA	$172,600	112.6	30	0.76×
4	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$165,260	106.7	830	1.42×
5	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$164,820	109.9	130	2.41×
6	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$164,620	98.9	60	0.71×
7	Barnstable Town, MA	$164,060	98.4	100	1.94×
8	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$163,810	111.1	1,330	1.18×
9	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$163,630	100.2	60	1.58×
10	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$163,520	100.1	60	0.86×
11	Salinas, CA	$163,080	109.0	120	1.16×
12	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$162,930	104.5	700	0.96×
13	Modesto, CA	$162,160	104.1	120	1.15×
14	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$161,060	103.3	1,480	1.15×
15	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$160,860	106.4	660	0.72×
16	Chico, CA	$160,180	101.2	60	1.44×
17	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$160,080	113.6	2,740	0.81×
18	Lexington Park, MD	$159,990	100.8	50	1.21×
19	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$159,750	111.9	1,080	1.30×
20	Redding, CA	$159,010	100.7	60	1.42×
21	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$158,880	103.7	100	1.46×
22	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$158,840	108.8	140	1.27×
23	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$158,810	110.5	290	1.64×
24	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$158,770	107.8	210	1.88×
25	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$158,600	105.6	90	1.78×
26	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$158,200	104.8	1,470	1.40×
27	Yakima, WA	$158,180	95.5	100	1.81×
28	Vallejo, CA	$157,710	108.5	70	0.91×
29	Fresno, CA	$157,460	102.2	170	0.67×
30	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$156,980	102.4	40	1.48×
31	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$156,150	112.6	3,150	0.61×
32	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$154,350	108.9	1,740	1.03×
33	Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ	$152,020	98.3	50	1.35×
34	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$151,990	108.6	110	1.63×
35	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$151,820	100.3	160	1.19×
36	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$150,780	100.9	100	0.53×
37	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$150,520	103.2	100	0.76×
38	Bellingham, WA	$149,760	103.3	80	1.68×
39	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$148,730	103.6	1,530	0.63×
40	Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL	$146,960	97.7	140	1.33×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where veterinarians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.